NOTE: This is my first fanfiction ever. I started writing this on the memo of my phone while I was bored in school. While I have seen many episodes of Steven Universe, I have little idea of the actual timeline. Feel free to point out any errors and give suggestions, but please remember that this is a first for me. English is also not my mothertongue, so the text might feel a little cluncky and the story might not be very original. Apologies are in order. I appologise. I am not also sure if I want to continue this past chapter one. So i will just apologise about that as well. Seems right. Also, Galenite was called Anhydrite when I was writing this. I tried to change her name, but I might have missed some in this chapter. Sorry about that.

The Shattered Gems

Chapter 1

And Then There were Three

Galenite awoke

She was alone in the room, with only the humming of the machines as her company. She tried to think clearly, as her mind was still hazy from her sleep. Of course she was alone, everyone had either died in the rebellion or fled back to Homeworld.

Homeworld.

Earth.

The beautiful living rock in the middle of nowhere that was the battleground and a grave for so many. She hadn't cared much about the place, but soon found Homeworlds methods cruel and often excessive, to cause fear and to simply show power. Earth was just a battleground where those loyal to Yellow Diamond would be found. The war, simply a test.

The war.

Memories came back to her over the time of second that seemed like hours. Memories of beautiful places she had helped to build, beautiful temples and graceful spires, all turned to dust by know. Memories of other gems, her friends, enemies, the dead and the living.

Mostly dead, though.

She got up from her crude metal bed and winced over the pain in her joints. Indeed, sleeping was a hard work she thought to herself. Sleeping for centuries and more was more than a walk in the park.

A walk would be nice.

She shook her head to gather her thoughts and picked up a block of metal from a self next to her. The block shimmered like chrome and flowed like water between her fingers until it came to rest on her arms and solidifying. That done, she turned her sights to a terminal in the main command console. A cruel joke, being able to see most of her prison, but not able to even take a step out of the room she was in. The terminal showed no communications. But why would there be any? She was probably listed as dead, and everyone who knew that she wasn't would just let her rot there. Not that she could, that is. But why was she awoken? Why were the machines in the ore refinery turned fortress being switched online? This place was forgotten, only she and the whispers of the past lived here. She stopped the morbid strain of thought and looked at the terminal again. Someone was here! Two someones, to be precise. She cursed the malfunctioning cameras and rose up. She was locked in the command centre, and they, whoever they were, would come here, sooner or later.

1 hour earlier

"Why are we here?" asked Lapis from her silent companion ,as they walked through the rocky countryside. "Where are we going?"

"You are starting to annoy me" replied the green gem who walked with a small limp.

"If you would answer any of my questions, then maybe I would say silent for a while"

"And then simply ask new ones"

"That happens if you won't even tell me why we are in the middle of nowhere searching for stars know what. I can just leave and you will be free to live out your paranoid life to its full potential"

Peridot stayed silent for a while before answering. "We are alone. We are cut off from both Homeworld and the command line and are now stuck on this planet. A hostile planet, as the Crystal Gems would just crush our gemstones with no remorse. If we are to have a fighting chance, we need supplies, a base and a plan.

Around here somewhere should be a factory or something that was taken over by Crystal Gems and used as an outpost before they abandoned it. I don't know in what shape it is in, but it is a start. Now, let me find the entrance. It looks as if the whole place is covered in rubble.

Lapis let Peridot use her finger screen to scan the area and took the time to think back at the few past weeks. Malachite had unfused and Jasper was gone. While Lapis had been the dominant one in the fusion, Malachite's own mind had become stronger later, and the struggle for control became a war on two fronts for Lapis. Soon, the collective minds that made up Malachite were separated as the fusion tore itself apart in the bottom of the sea. The experience had apparently been so traumatic that Lapis was effectively amnesiac about the whole thing. She had awoken one day as herself and had "gone with the sea", or whatever humans said. After a while she run into Peridot who had, apparently from sheer desperation, tried to salvage anything she could from an old Gem garbage dump. After some talking and arguing they had decided to stay together and refrain from any attempts of communication with Homeworld, the Crystal Gems and Jasper, should she be still alive. They had a rough start, with both almost leaving several times, but as Peridot put it, they were a few in a big world. This fear of being abandoned again kept them together, while their general disliking of each other kept them apart. Peridot was secretive, paranoid and maybe not the most stable gem after everything that had happened. While she seemed to have cut her ties with Homewolrd. Lapis was not sure what her motives besides plain survival were. Lapis herself just wanted peace, but seeing as both Crystal Gems and Jasper who, at least in Lapis's mind had survived, would have attacked them on sight, peace was out of question.

As she thought , Peridot called out: "Don't just stand her, come help me".

Lapis walked towards Peridot, who had uncovered a part of a metal door and began moving the stones that blocked the way. Soon enough the doorway was uncovered and cut open by Peridot. The two stepped inside the ancient hallway that was illuminated by red emergency lights. While she was curious about the place, sudden mechanic noises from deep inside the refinery forced her silent. The two gems nodded and wordlessly armed themselves, Peridot with her arm cannon and Lapis with a sphere of water.

Galenite tracked the movements of the intruders from the console. The cameras were offline, but the motion sensors still worked and displayed them as two red dots on the facility's map. Her eyes were glued to the screen as the dots kept moving, stopping occasionally to apparently investigate something and moved on.

The Armory.

Engineering section.

Barracks.

Supply depot.

Whoever they were, they had an idea what they were doing and where they were going. Thoughts raced through Galenites head. Who were they? Crystal gems looking for usable technologies? Yellow Diamonds followers who had come to set a foothold on the planet? Neither were good, as both would see her as a supporter of their enemies. But as the map showed, the vault would be the next target on the looters. Freedom was not millennia away anymore

"This place gives me the creeps" Both gems froze for a moment, until they were sure the noises that followed the statement were mechanical in nature. The entire place was apparently reactivating, as if they had come to work here. But something seemed off for Lapis, even if she could not point her finger at it. The duo entered the depot, which was unnaturally silent. No machinery in here worked and the cranes used to lift the heavy crates that still littered the area stood still.

Clink

Thump

Clink

Thump

Peridot walked to the closest crate and begun opening it, while Lapis looked around the place.

"I have a strange feeling. Like someone is watching us."

While Peridot was unsure of being watched of, some things here puzzled her. The whole place had simply been on a standby mode. That would have required the presence of someone to constantly override the computers commands, even for thousands of years. But nothing in the depot had been moved; the crates were sealed and had rusted to the ground. As she continued to work in the eerie silence, Lapis suddenly said:

"I think I heard something!" ,making Peridot flinch. "Lapis, I don't have time for your overly active imagination."

"I think it came from over there" Lapis had ignored the cruel remark and began walking towards a hallway that lead deeper into the compound. "Lapis!". Peridot scrambled to get up and run after her. She could have just let her go and continue her search for supplies, but being alone in a facility that only seemed abandoned did not sound like a good idea.

Galenites nose was just centimeters away from the screen as she watched the map. The dots had stayed in the depot and she was getting nervous. They had moved slowly, and she was not sure if they would continue to push deeper into the facility. She slid under the console and tried to hotwire the speakers in the hallway to give them a message, but only managed to produce a short static screech. If it had any effect, it must have been a repelling one. But suddenly the dots on the map started to move.

They moved slowly, ever so slowly on the map. She must have scared them with her attempts at communication and realized she must leave a good impression to them if they even opened the door. But who were they? Why hadn't she thought this more trough? But it was already too late to rethink the plan as the strangers had reached the door. "Come on now, just a few button presses" "This place is getting stranger by the second" Galenite held her breath. She hadn't said that. While she was questioning her sanity, another voice rung out:

"What do you mean?" While the cameras had long broken down, the audio receivers had apparently survived and were relaying the conversation on the other side of the door. "The door is locked, and the controls in the inside have been manually tampered with" "But we can still open it, can't we?" "Think a little with your pretty blue head. Something was locked inside here" "But what, and by whom?"

"How should I know?" "Well, you have been so all-knowing up to this point…"

"While my intelligence is above average, I am not, contrary to the popular belief, all knowing." Galenite frowned as the conversation dragged on, but the strangers seemed to get tired themselves.

"Let's just open it and get this over with" Peridot quickly pressed some buttons before her companion could say anything else, and the door slid open. The room beyond it was fairly large, but it was hard to tell the full size of it as machines covered a large portion of the walls and the ceiling. But the machines were not the centre of their attention. Peridot took a step back while a comment of her hair died on Lapis's lips. A figure stood on the other side. A Gem. She was gray in color, stood as tall as Peridot, and had a larger build than Lapis. Her short silver hair hung loosely from under her light helmet and she had several armor parts protecting her knees, elbows and chest. She did not look militaristic though, rather a worker of sorts, as similar suits were used on construction sites.

The grey Gem raised her hand into an awkward wave and smiled unsurely. Lapis took a step fovards, but Peridot suddenly yelled "She has the traitors mark!"and raised her arm cannon. Galenites wave turned into a battle stance, as the silvery arm covers flowed into her palms and took the shape of two blades. As the two prepared for a clash, Lapis jumped between them, raising her arms and blocking the view. The scene force and the three stayed still, Peridot staring at Lapis and Anhydrite waiting to see what would happen.

"Ok, let's try this again" Lapis broke the silence. "We don't want to fight. I am Lapis Lazuli and she is Peridot. Who are you?"

"My name is Galenite" the grey Gem answered and stooddown her weapons.

"Lapis, she is marked!" Peridot whispered. That was true, Galenites gemstone had a black mark that had been burned there with a gem fragment. Marks such as these were impossible to remove, and only upon death did it dissipate. "Peridot, the last thing we need is one of us being killed. And we could use help. "We don't need anything from her." She answered, while slowly lowering her weapon.

Lapis looked at both of them and relaxed bit. "Al right, now we can…" A sudden beep startled the three and both Peridot and Galenite raised their weapons again. Anhydrite looked back into the room while still keeping one eye at Peridot. "Did you bring friends?"

"What do you mean?" the other Gems stepped closer. "I mean that someone just used the warp pad."

"The warp pad!" Lapis and Peridot yelled in unison and looked at each other with a slight hint of fear.

"It must have been activated with the rest of the facility. Strange." Galenite looked at the others. "Is something wrong?"

"It's the Crystal Clods" Peridot answered and moved closer to the map on another screen. "The Crystal Gems," Lapis explained to Galenite, "Are what remains of the followers of Rose Quarts ."

"Where is the damned pad anyway?" "Here," Galenite stepped next to Peridot and pointed to a room on the map with only one path leading to the "Entrance hallway!" Peridot cursed. "They are going to cut us off from the exit. We need to get out of here!"

"What do you mean, "we"," Galenite took a step away from the others. "I have no quarrel with them. They have no reason to attack me."

Anger flashed in Peridot's eyes and Lapis replied coldly. "Simply not being a Crystal is all they need to open hostilities. Even if they don't know you, you are still just a Homewolrd Gem to them." "They will probably seal you up in a bubble somewhere" Peridot backed up Lapis's story. Galenite thought a minute and stepped back to the map. "There are three of us against" she looked at the dots "the four of them. We could try to fight them." "And die trying." Peridot snapped back "Even if we ambush them somewhere, Lapis and me are not armed for a close quarters fight. These are trained warriors, we are not."

"How about we hide and let them go past us. Then we run to the pad and warp somewhere." As the others thought about Lapis's plan the console peeped two more times in a quick succession and a voice was carried over by the coms: "Steven, we don't have time for your camera. Steven!"

The three huddled around the dusty speaker. "That's Pearl" Peridot hissed.

"We are wasting time. Lets go."

"And the fusion, Garnet." Lapis added. "Wait," Galenite stopped them "The Fanatic and The Lovers are here?" she addressed the Crystal Gems with their rebellion-age nicknames. "Rose Quarts is here as well, in a way" Lapis said and exchanged glances with Peridot. "In what way?" "The boy, Steven, is her child." Galenite was stunned. "What?". Lapis sighted. "Rose had a child with a human and gave up her physical form to give her gemstone to Steven."

"…What?"

"You two can chat later, we need a plan!" Peridot watched the movement of the dots anxiously. "What about my one?" Lapis asked. "We could hide in the depot" Galenite supported her. "Fine. But let's move, they will get there any moment."

Galenite set the speakers in the hallway to produce static noises to make Crystal Gems investigate and hopefully not search the depot. That done, she ran to meet the others, who had already flown to the top of one of the cranes. The two swords melted once again and moved to her legs, while remaining connected to the silver gemstone in her left palm with a thin line. The liquid metal reached her feet and took the shape of large boots. The boots begun to glow and Galenite floated up to Lapis and Peridot. On the crane, the boots formed a saber in her left hand. "What is that stuff?" Lapis looked at the sword. "Silicone nanobots. I can control them with my mind and power them with my gemstone. It has a lot of uses, however the constructs are somewhat fragile, so weapons tend to brake often. But.."

"Silence" Peridot whispered. Soon they began hearing footsteps.

The Crystal gems walked through the derelict halls. While the place seemed empty, mechanic noises rung in the distance. "Garnet, what is this place?" Steven was holding his new favorite object, a camera that had once belonged to Craig. Before Garnet said anything, Pearl answered. "It is an old ore refinery. During the war Homeworld Gems used it as an outpost until we took it over ourselves. But we too abandoned it soon. I did not even know there was a warp pad here." "Cool." Steven took a few photos of some large machines as they walked past them. "Whatever if this place is cool or not, something activated the warp pad here. And we need to find out what." After Garnets statement, the four walked in silence, until they reached a large room, which Pearl identified as the supply depot. Suddenly Amethyst, who had been silent for the whole time said: "Do you hear that?" "Hear what?" Pearl asked as all four stopped walking. "Some noise, like static or something" "Amethyst is right. It's coming from there" Garnet took the lead as they began walking again, but Steven lagged behind.

"Steven, let's go."

"In a minute. I am just going to take a few pictures."

Galenite, Lapis and Peridot stood still as they waited for the room to empty. When the Gems get to the command centre, they will hopefully stay there for a few minutes, giving the three time to escape. But that was only the plan. And plans are never foolproof.

Galenite knew the plan failed when the boy, Steven, pointed his camera upwards, right at the crane they were standing on. "Go" was the only thing she could yell, before the flash blinded them for a moment, but the others were quick to act. Peridot and Lapis fired at the returning Gems with water spheres and bolts of electricity, successfully forcing Amethyst and Garnet back, but Pearl only ran faster, reached Galenite, who had jumped down last, and stabbed with her spear. Trough luck Galenite blocked the blow and the following slash, and hit with her own sword, which changed shape midair and turned into a mace. The weapon hit Pearls spear out of the way and forced her to jump back to Amethyst and Garnet, who readied themselves for the next blow. The next blow, which never came, as their opponents ran away. Peridot fired a few shots blindly as she struggled to keep up with the rest.

"They are getting away!" "Don't worry, I got this" Amethyst struck with her whip, which curled around Peridots leg. "Amethyst, no!" Pearl yelled.

"I recommend you get rubber gloves next time" Peridot mocked as she shot a bolt of electricity through the whip, which moved too fast for Amethyst to react. As she fell down and Peridot got back up, Steven suddenly ran after her, yelling "Lapis, Lapis, come back!"

"Steven!" Pearl and Garnet followed and left Amethyst alone in the room.

"I am fine, by the way"

"Run!" Galenites sword turned into a laser cutter and she fired a few beams to keep Crystal Gems back. The bolts flew too high to hit Steven, and as he ran into the warp chamber he saw Peridot jumping on the activating pad. "Lapis, don't go!"

"Bye Steven". A beam of light shot from the pad and the three Gems disappeared. "Steven!" Pearl and Garnet caught up with him. "Steven are you ok?!" "Pearl, he is fine" Garnet looked at the pad. "You are right. But what happened? Why were Peridot and Lapis here?" "And who was the grey Gem ?"

"I don't know, Steven," Garnet looked back, "But if Lapis is here, it means that Jasper is out there as well." "Great. So not do we have just three rouge Gems on the run, but Jasper is plotting somewhere as well. At least they cant escape from Earth. I hope"

"Look, I took a picture of them." Garnet examined the photograph in Stevens hands. "I have no idea who the grey one is, but she cant have come from Homeworld. Whoever she is, we need to find out what they are planning, and stop it." "Maybe they are planning something nice, like a party or something?" "I highly doubt that, Steven. Let's get Amethyst and go back home. We have work to do."

Soon the Crystal Gems had left, and the refinery begun to lapse into silence once more, the echoes of the past becoming the masters of the abandoned, ancient outpost again.